KAMPALA: The United States Embassy in Kampala has responded to concerns raised by various groups of Ugandans about reports of an unknown number of people from the US through what is described as an undignified, harrowing and dehumanizing process.
According to the Uganda Law Society, an unspecified number of people this afternoon landed at Entebbe International Airport aboard a chartered plane from the US.
The said group whose nationality is yet to be established is believed to have touched down after mid-day.
The deputy president ULS Anthony Asiimwe has told journalists at their office in Kamwokya that the private deportees have been moved to Uganda without any policy documents or legislation being promulgated to stipulate the procedures relevant to the refugees and other security information.
“Now our research indicates that none of the mandated institutions such as the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control the Parliament of Uganda, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs have been engaged regarding this matter. Moreover, no policy documents or legislation has been promulgated to stipulate the procedures relevant to the transfer of people from one country to another,” Asiimwe said.
Asiimwe added that as a remedy, they have approached the courts of law in Uganda and in the region seeking to arrest what they describe as a pertinent international illegality.
“So as a remedy, we have approached the courts of law in Uganda in the region, seeking for relief, designed to arrest this certain international illegality. We have filed a case at the Civil Division the main application challenging these acts and also applications seeking injunctive orders to prevent this from happening,” he added.
However, Yasmeen Hibrawi, Public Affairs Counselor, at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala says that in 2025, the United States and the Government of Uganda signed a Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which allows asylum-seekers in the United States to pursue their humanitarian protection claims in Uganda.”
He added, “We do not however discuss the details of our private diplomatic communications and for privacy reasons, we cannot discuss the particulars to their cases. All transfers under the STCA are in full cooperation with the Government of Uganda. For further details, we refer you to the Government of Uganda.”
In mid- 2025, the US government under the Trump Administration started implementing an expanded deportation strategy known as third country removals to deport non- citizens to countries other than their nation of origin.
This strategy according to Trump is aimed at accelerating the removal of undocumented migrants, particularly those with criminal backgrounds whose home countries refuse to accept them back, as well as individuals deemed uniquely barbaric.
The US has also reached agreements with countries such as Rwanda, South Sudan, Eswatini, and Honduras to receive deportees.
These action primarily target non-citizens including asylum seekers, undocumented migrants and those with serious criminal backgrounds.
The policy has however been heavily criticized by human rights organizations with some critics describing it as turning African nations into a dumping ground.
A federal lawsuit in March 2025 challenged these removals as a violation of US immigration laws, though the Supreme later allowed the practice to continue while the case is pending.
Earlier in 2025, the US began deportations to Central American countries and Rwanda, and had already sent individuals to South Sudan and Eswatini.
